Boycotts

Limbo@The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Thu 15 Jan

INDIE

Just when you think you’ve got this Glasgow four-piece nailed as an abrasively angular, art school outfit, the pixie-booted minx bopping about onstage opens her cheeky gob and takes you by surprise. The sound emanating from knowingly named Stina Twee sounds like the spirit of long lost indie pin-up Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays distilled through a post Penetration Pauline Murray and melodies by Morrissey that drive and soar off somewhere out the ordinary.

Musically, Boycotts provide a relentlessly taut backdrop to such bittersweet colouring, with bass notes zapping out from the sculpted guitar patterns in a manner that recalls the post-punk structures of Life Without Buildings. Here, though, Ms Twee is less freeform, more straight-ahead in vocal stylings which rise and fall across the tunes’ more urgent intentions. At their most accomplished such a counterpoint makes for a healthy creative tension that should be pushed further. It’s early days yet for Boycotts, but it’s clear the game they’re playing is a whole lot livelier than cricket. Just say yes.